In most steel making processes, steel slabs exiting a continuous caster must be cut to precise dimensions before they can be processed further. This cutting is usually accomplished with an oxycutting torch. Unfortunately molten metal at the exit of the cut or kerf cools and forms burrs or anomalies on the surface of the slab near the cut. Generally these burrs must be removed before further processing. Commonly, the burrs are removed manually by chiseling or with torches. One solution has been to use a single oxygen jet at the exit point that points along the cut line. This keeps the molten metal hot and is intended to allow the molten metal to fall off by gravity. While this system does seem to reduce the size of the burrs it does not eliminate them.
Thus there exists a need for a system and method that automatically eliminates burrs and anomalies created in cutting a slab of steel.